Chapter 403 - 403: 403
Li Qiang turned his head in surprise and looked at Ye Qing, anxiously asking, "What's wrong?"
Ye Qing said, "Aren't you afraid of being arrested by the police if you go to the hospital like this?"
Li Qiang frowned slightly and said in a deep voice, "If they arrest me, so be it. I can't just watch my brother die here. He's my only family!"
Ye Qing looked at Li Qiang with a bit more admiration in his eyes and said, "Wait for me a moment."
After finishing his words, Ye Qing directly walked into the nearby woods. Li Qiang did not know what Ye Qing was intending to do, but since it was Ye Qing who had found the herbs to temporarily counteract the poison for the fool just now, he had gained a slight trust in Ye Qing.
Ye Qing wandered around in the forest for about five minutes and finally came out, holding something long and slender in his hand. It wasn't until he approached Li Qiang that he could see clearly that Ye Qing was holding a grey-brown snake.
This snake was not big, of a short and thick variety, and it was the common Siberian pit viper found in these mountains. It would not come out during the day, only at night to feed, and was extremely dangerous. People from the mountains, upon seeing this type of snake, would always avoid it. So why had Ye Qing caught one?
Seeing the snake, the fool was clearly terrified; he buried his head behind Li Qiang's back while mumbling inarticulately, "Bro... bro..."
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid," Li Qiang consoled the fool and then looked at Ye Qing, asking, "What are you doing?"
"You'll know in a minute," Ye Qing said with a faint smile, holding the snake while leading Li Qiang and the fool down the mountain.
On the way, Ye Qing had already called Da Fei, and they had driven the car back and were waiting at the foot of the mountain. Seeing Ye Qing coming down with Li Qiang and the fool, Lin Peng sitting in the car was taken aback; he was very aware of Li Qiang's fierceness. Originally, he had thought Ye Qing would bring this person down forcibly, but instead, they were walking down side by side. What did that mean?
Ye Qing led Li Qiang over, opened the car door directly, and had him carry the fool inside. Then, he had Da Fei drive Li Qiang's car, while Lin Peng drove the other car, heading straight for the county town.
Lin Peng, sitting in the driver's seat, glanced at Li Qiang and the fool in the back, and still couldn't calm down. He couldn't help but quietly make a meaningful glance towards Ye Qing, who was in the passenger seat.
Ye Qing knew what he was worried about and said, "You don't need to worry, just drive."
Lin Peng trusted Ye Qing rather well, so hearing his words, he no longer thought much about it and followed Ye Qing's order to drive to the county hospital.
By then, the fool's forehead had started to get feverish, and Li Qiang, holding him, was full of worry. Once they finally arrived at the hospital, he immediately opened the car door to get out but was stopped by Ye Qing.
"What are you doing?" Ye Qing glared and said, "The hospital is full of people, and there are police standing guard. If you go out now, you'll be caught immediately."
Li Qiang anxiously said, "But I can't just sit here and watch my brother die!"
Ye Qing shook his head and said, "You wait here, I'll go down and get the antivenom for you!"
"You'll go get it?" Li Qiang was stunned for a moment, and finally, his eyes no longer held such hostility towards Ye Qing.
"What antivenom?" Lin Peng still did not know what had happened, and Ye Qing shook the Siberian pit viper bag in his hand at him, causing Lin Peng to let out a horrified scream, "Oh no, have you been carrying it all this way?"
Lin Peng immediately pushed the car door open and jumped out, panic-stricken as he looked at the snake in Ye Qing's hand and said, "Is...is...isn't that a Siberian pit viper?"
While saying this, Lin Peng also turned to look at the fool and exclaimed, "He...he wasn't bitten by this snake, was he?"
Ye Qing nodded, got out of the car, and said, "That's why we brought them back to get the antivenom!"
"What?" Lin Peng's eyes widened as he said, "They... they're murderers, Ye, do you realize what you're doing?"
Li Qiang's expression turned cold as he gave Lin Peng a chilly stare. If it hadn't been for Ye Qing's presence, he would have definitely taught Lin Peng a lesson.
"So what?" Ye Qing said, "His brother is innocent, can you really just watch him die like this?"
"Well..." Lin Peng was at a loss for words, glanced at the fool, and said, "But the antivenom is in limited supply. If you don't take him there, by the rules, the hospital can't give out the antivenom. They are fugitives now, and if you take them out..."
Lin Peng's following words hung unsaid, but the implications were clear. If the fool was seen, Li Qiang would definitely not be able to escape from the county hospital.
Li Qiang also looked a bit troubled; he knew better than anyone that once he appeared in the county hospital, there would be no escape. However, he had come here resolutely because he couldn't just watch the only brother he had die before his eyes.
"Big Brother Ye, I'm not afraid of being caught!" Li Qiang opened the car door and said firmly, "I have only one request, please tell the judge that my brother had nothing to do with the murder."
"Why do you have to be so impulsive in doing things?" Ye scolded him with a wave of his hand, saying, "Go back and sit in the car first."
"Big Brother Ye, I can't wait any longer," Li Qiang, looking at the fool in the car, said, "I can't just watch my brother die. I have to get the antivenom quickly!"
Ye Qing said, "I'll get the antivenom for you, don't show your face."
Lin Peng, looking at Ye Qing, said incredulously, "You'll go get it? How will you get it?"
Lin Peng also felt some concern and said, "Ye, I'm afraid this isn't something that can be obtained just through connections."
Ye Qing smiled faintly, lifted the Siberian pit viper bag in his hand, and said, "Of course, this isn't something that can be obtained through connections, but I have this."
As Ye Qing spoke, he suddenly stretched out his left hand toward the snake's head on the Siberian pit viper bag.
"Ye Zi, what are you doing?"
"Brother Ye!"
Lin Peng and Li Qiang exclaimed in alarm, but it was too late.
The snake, having been caught by Ye Qing all the way, was already in an extremely aggressive state. Seeing Ye Qing extend his hand, it immediately bit down without hesitation.
Lin Peng and Li Qiang were both stunned, while Ye Qing tore off the Siberian pit viper bag, stuffed it into another bag, covered the wound with his hand, and turned to say, "Lin Peng, stay here and help take care of them. I'll go get the antivenom."
Lin Peng and Li Qiang were still dumbfounded as Ye Qing, covering his hand, headed straight for the hospital.
It took a while for Lin Peng and Li Qiang to come to their senses. They looked at each other, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.
Lin Peng looked at Li Qiang and said solemnly, "Ye Zi is helping you, do you realize that? He let the snake bite him so he could get the antivenom from the hospital! Look at him, and then look at yourself. Do you know what true benevolence is?"
Li Qiang didn't speak, his eyes no longer held the fierce light from before. He seemed completely lost, never having imagined that Ye Qing would do something so risky just to get him the antivenom. Knowing how dreadfully poisonous that bag was, a slight misstep could be deadly. He had always regarded Ye Qing as an enemy, yet only at this moment did he realize Ye Qing was not his enemy at all.
In this world, how many people would risk their own lives to save a fool who was unrelated to them?
Li Qiang slumped against the car, looking at the unconscious fool on the body of the car, feeling moved for the first time.
About ten minutes later, Ye Qing came out of the hospital and handed a vial of antivenom to Li Qiang, his voice weak, "Quick... inject him with it quickly!"
Seeing Ye Qing like this, Li Qiang felt even more grateful. Holding the antivenom, he urgently asked, "There's only one vial of antivenom, what about you?"
Ye Qing leaned against the car and said, "I've already been injected, don't worry."
"Impossible!" Lin Peng said anxiously. "If you went alone, they would only give you one vial. I don't know how you managed to steal the antivenom, but it's rare, they definitely wouldn't give you extra. Besides, you don't look like someone who has been injected!"
Hearing this, Li Qiang became anxious, holding the antivenom and unsure of what to do.
"Ah, you two stop wasting time," Ye Qing stepped forward, snatched the antivenom from Li Qiang's hand, and injected it directly into the fool without further explanation.
"Ye Zi, you..." Lin Peng wanted to intervene but it was too late; he could only watch helplessly as the entire vial of antivenom was injected into the fool's body.
Li Qiang stood by, watching all of this unfold, completely dumbfounded. This lone thief who had roamed the Northwest had suddenly forgotten what he was supposed to do.
After injecting the antivenom, Ye Qing's body went limp, and he collapsed beside the car.
"Ye Zi! Ye Zi!" Lin Peng hurried over to support Ye Qing, anxious, "How are you? Dammit, you didn't get injected with the antivenom, what's going on with you?"
"Get in the car, get out... we'll talk after we get out..." Ye Qing climbed into the car with difficulty, rested his head on the seat and said, "The herbs from earlier, give me some..."
"What herbs?" Lin Peng asked urgently.
Li Qiang came to his senses and quickly handed Ye Qing the small medicinal plants he had gathered earlier.
Ye Qing took the plants, tore off a piece and stuffed it into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed, then finally gained some energy and said, "Hurry, drive, first to the suburbs!"
"Ye Zi, with your condition, why are you heading to the suburbs? You need to find a doctor quickly!" Lin Peng urged.
Li Qiang also said anxiously, "Brother Ye, thank you for saving my life. But your condition right now, you really shouldn't be moving around; you must go to the hospital!"
"Don't worry, I won't die!" Ye Qing weakly waved his hand and said, "Hurry up and get out, I still need to gather a plant. You really want to kill me, huh."
Hearing this, Lin Peng and Li Qiang looked at each other, finally helpless, and hurriedly drove towards the suburbs.
In the car, Ye Qing consumed part of the herb and wrapped the remaining piece around his wound. After doing all of this, he closed his eyes and began breathing and meditating, using his Internal Breath to slowly force out the venom.
Ye Qing's Neijia Kung Fu had not yet reached a masterful level, and he was unable to project his Inner Strength outward. However, the Inner Strength stored within his body was not insignificant. Additionally, Ou Keren had unblocked thirty-six of his major acupoints, allowing his Internal Breath to flow smoothly. Conventional poisons were no longer likely to be fatal to him, given enough time he could use his Internal Breath to expel the venom.
It was for this reason that Neijia masters could become immune to all poisons.